Rosswald, the beginning of that sentence had me baffled, too. I don't think my VCR-DVD combo device is much of anything like monotreme reproduction.posted by The Great Big Mulp at 12:41 PM on June 9, 2009

4 headed penis? They ejaculate out of 2 of them at a time, and switch over to the other 2 for the next copulation, kind of like hemipenises of reptiles.

I wish I could say that this statement was even the slightest bit alarming, or even eyebrow-raising... but my sense of shock has been filed down to a nub. The internet, she has shown me... such horrors as you could not imagine. Sometimes, I wish the images seared into my mind were ONLY ejaculating two at a time, with reptiles.posted by FatherDagon at 2:17 PM on June 9, 2009 [1 favorite]

I first read "long baked," and wondered if it was ethical to eat an animal that was so rare. Then I wondered when the author had eaten tribble, boot scrubber, and the lovable cartoon elephant...posted by mccarty.tim at 3:16 PM on June 9, 2009

Echidnas are pretty common, and we regularly see them on trips in the country. On occasion they also visit, once memorably crawling along a shelf in my Dad's garage knocking over a bunch of paint cans.
When they cross the road they just waddle long. You can walk beside them and they ignore you - what are you going to do, spike yourself?
And the spikes aren't sharp, more like a stiff hair brush or widely spaced hair comb.posted by bystander at 4:38 PM on June 9, 2009 [1 favorite]

Our brains are 30% "neocortex" (the stuff we think with, evidently), theirs are 50%.posted by jamjam at 5:12 PM on June 9, 2009

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